The Catalyst

Innovation & Engineering: Gary Mishkin

• Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership • Season 1 • Episode 14

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Specializing in injection molding, engineering, prototyping, and in-house tooling, Artemis Plastics is Ocala's one-stop shop for contract manufacturing. It's also been recognized as a company to watch by GrowFL. Join us as CEO, Gary Mishkin highlights his company's innovations and how they ensure a quality product for their customers.

Featured Nonprofit: Marion County Public Schools

Gary Mishkin
CEO, Artemis Plastics

Gary Mishkin has a BA in Economics from Brandeis University, an MS in Medical Engineering from George Washington University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Mr. Mishkin spent seven years performing Clinical Research focused on kidney dialysis in the Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension at George Washington University.  Mr. Mishkin conducted clinical trials on medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs and performed original research to improve the understanding and delivery of dialysis care. 

Mr. Mishkin also worked for Alcavis International, Inc., an infection control company located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, He started his career in the industry as VP of Research and Development and, over time, moved on to become Chief Operations Officer as the company grew, merged, and was acquired by a large international pharmaceutical company.  

Mr. Mishkin is currently CEO of Apollo Renal Therapeutics, LLC DBA Artemis Plastics, an injection molding contract manufacturing company located in Ocala, Florida. Under Mr. Mishkin’s management, Artemis Plastics has quadrupled in revenues and now has two manufacturing facilities offering more than 62,000 sq ft of manufacturing space.  Artemis Plastics allows him to focus on his passion for medical device development and his love of manufacturing and business.

Mr. Mishkin has also published his research in peer-reviewed journals and has more than a dozen US and International Patents for products he has developed.

The Catalyst is hosted by the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership, sponsored by Douglas Law Firm and recorded live at Wiley Productions podcast studios, located in Ocala, Florida. New episodes, guests, and perspectives of leadership premiere twice a month. Follow us on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts.

Natalie McComb:

The Catalyst, a CEP podcast on bold leadership in the Ocala Metro, hosted by the Ocala Metro Chamber and economic partnership, sponsored by Douglas law firm and recorded live at Wiley Productions podcast studios located in Ocala, Florida. Welcome to The Catalyst. I'm your host Natalie McComb, Vice President for the Ocala Metro Chamber and Economic Partnership Foundation. And I'm joined today by Gary Mishkin, CEO of Artemis Plastics. Great to have you on the show, Gary.

@Gary Mishkin:

Great to be here. Thanks so much for inviting me.

Natalie McComb:

So Artemis plastics first entered the local manufacturing market in 2014. So nearly a decade ago, but many in Ocala may not have heard of your company. So what does Artemis Plastics do?

@Gary Mishkin:

Artemis Plastics is a medical device and industrial products contract manufacturer. We specialize in injection molding, however, we have a lot of additional value-added capabilities, such as pad printing, UV LED printing, ultrasonic welding, full product assembly, and we can even manage the packaging labeling and sterilization of medical devices.

Natalie McComb:

Wow. So you have an extensive resume in research and development and with a master's degree in medical engineering from George Washington University, and an MBA from the University of Virginia with numerous publications and patents. So what inspired you to choose this field of work?

@Gary Mishkin:

I've always had an interest in the sciences and medicine as well as an entrepreneurial spirit and an interest in business. In college, I was an economics major. But I also completed the pre-medical curriculum, which gave me both a business and a science background. With this combination, I interviewed with a number of financial institutions, mostly companies that dealt with medical device and pharmaceutical drugs. And on one of my interviews, I actually got along with everybody really well, except for the person I was supposed to work for. We kind of clashed a little bit.

Natalie McComb:

Oh, that's a problem.

@Gary Mishkin:

It was interesting. However, she pointed out that I didn't want to be on the finance side, I want to be on the business side. And I kind of sat back like, you know what, you're absolutely right. What do you suggest? She said, look, you're living in Chicago, at the time, contact Abbott, contact Baxter. So I did. They basically said go back and get an advanced degree in some type of science discipline. So from that I went and got a master's in Biomedical Engineering from George Washington University. After I got my degree, I continued to work in the renal division at GW for another seven years doing clinical trials. We did lots of different studies on medical devices, and pharmaceuticals. We did bench research, and a lot of what I call translational studies, basically taking bench research and finding ways to apply it medically. And that's really what drives me and motivates me. And that's kind of how I made my transition.

Natalie McComb:

And, so for those layman's who may be listening, what what do you mean by bench research? What is that?

@Gary Mishkin:

So bench research is in the lab. So basically, we would do a lot of simulated studies of different types of dialysis therapies, flows through catheters, needles, dialyzers, etc, we'd be doing clearance, sightings, things like that.

Natalie McComb:

Okay, So even though you have this interest in medicine, do you ever have the desire to be a doctor? Or do you prefer to be in the lab?

@Gary Mishkin:

You know, look, I mean, being a doctor was always interesting to me. However, I really enjoy changing things up every day. Yeah, so I like the idea of new projects every day, as opposed to seeing patients on a daily basis,

Natalie McComb:

Which I'm sure in starting Artemis Plastics, and obviously having that business background, it was still, you know, that opportunity to kind of get out of the lab and look at, you know, what kind of a culture you wanted to build at this organization that you were creating. How would you describe the culture at Artemis Plastics?

@Gary Mishkin:

Culture is very important to us. So we lead by example. We want everybody to, you know, work hard and do a good job. Do the right thing, even when no one is looking. That's really what we're looking for.

Natalie McComb:

I'm sure you try to exemplify as a leader as well. And, you know, with the research that you're doing there, and, you know, we'll talk a little bit about the plants that you have here in Ocala. I'm sure it's one of those things that you can have some really exciting days where you make some new discoveries, and then you can have some frustrating days where you try something and it just doesn't work. So you can't be afraid to fail.

@Gary Mishkin:

For sure. For sure. Actually, failure is a great way to learn. And anyway, as far as going back to the culture, you know, an interesting story. I remember very early on after we bought the plant. Something went out the customer caught it and, you know, sent us basically a complaint saying, hey, this part is not to spec. So we pulled the team together. We determined okay, what is the root cause? How do we prevent it from happening? And let's go ahead and institute the processes and procedures so that it doesn't happen again.

Natalie McComb:

I understand Artemis Plastics has two plants located here in Ocala with a combined 62,000 square feet of space. And one of the features is an in-house tooling room. So can you explain what what that means? And what are the benefits to your client to have that?

@Gary Mishkin:

Sure, absolutely. So injection molding requires tooling also called the mold. The injection molding machine, also called the press will clamp shut in order to keep the molds closed, so that you can inject the plastic at high pressures. And that's how you make the parts. And Artemis we have presses as small as 17 tons and as large as 1200 tons. When we refer to this tonnage rating is basically the pressure at which the machine exerts the force to keep the mold closed as we're injecting the plastic 1200 times is a massive amount of pressure. And with such high pressures, if something is just slightly out of alignment, the mold of the components of the mold could potentially be damaged. Since we have a full in-house machine shop, also call our tooling department, we have the capability to take that damage, mold out of the press, fix the damage and return them all back to production many times within a couple hours. So this allows us to keep the parts in production, which of course our customers are pleased with. And then of course, I'm pleased with it because our machines are running. And that's how we make our money. So we can handle approximately 98% of any tool maintenance in house, the other 2% that we may not be able to fix in house, we have local contractors that we work with.

Natalie McComb:

I'm sure that saves you not only time for your customer, but it saves money because if they're working with a third party producer, you know, they may not get that response time and the line may be down for longer and dealing with the back and forth.

@Gary Mishkin:

Correct. Exactly right. We've had some customers who have worked with other injection molders. And they haven't had the tool shop and anytime it goes down, they got to send the tool out to another shop. So it's not down for a couple hours like we can turn it but it's down for three or four days. Of course, if you delay product, you're going to delay sales.

Natalie McComb:

Yeah. And I understand that the facility also has three class eight clean rooms. So what is a clean room? And what does that use for?

@Gary Mishkin:

So a clean room are, I'd call them separated room, they're kind of isolated rooms that are usually a positive pressure. Because incoming air is pumped into the room through a High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter, also called a HEPA filter. Since the air coming into the room passes through the HEPA filter, it has a very low particulate count, which is basically just particles in the air in ISO eight cleanroom. Also some people call it a class 100,000 has less than 100,000 particles of size point three micrometers per cubic meter in the air. So basically, we measure the air we have a machine that pulls in the volume measures the amount of particles in the air, obviously, the lower the amount of particles, the cleaner the air. And it's very important when you're dealing with things like medical devices, sensitive electronics, etc, that you don't have these extra particulates in the air. So there are other requirements of a cleanroom, such as how often the air volume is filtered. And then we also do microbial counts. So we'll swab the floors, the walls, the surfaces, etc to make sure that the microbial count is very, very low. So all these together basically define a cleanroom. Artemis has over 3200 square feet of HEPA filtered rooms that meet this requirement.

Natalie McComb:

Wow. And what are some examples of of a medical device that Artemis plastics helps manufacture where this level of infection control is really that important?

@Gary Mishkin:

So some of the products that we make in our cleanroom are devices that are used in surgical procedures such as a device we use for knee repair for meniscus repair. Another product we make is for a local company here in Florida that has a really unique syringe for the delivery of Botox. Another device we have is a nasal trumpet. It's a medical device that's used for trauma, trauma or any type of facial trauma in order to keep the airways open.

Natalie McComb:

Wow. So it really runs the gamut between cosmetic procedures to knee replacements.

@Gary Mishkin:

Exactly right.

Natalie McComb:

And I know that in 2019 Artemis Plastics was recognized by Grow Florida as a company to watch and they recognized 50 businesses and your business was one of them. So what has been your strategy for balancing that growth that you've seen with the need to maintain the quality of your products?

@Gary Mishkin:

At Artemis Plastics, we stress that quality is everyone's responsibility. We instill this principle to the operators that are in front of the presses, the quality inspectors that are reviewing the parts. And basically everyone that is directly or indirectly associated with the production of parts. We empower our teammates to speak up if they see something that causes the parts to be out of spec, so that we can fix that problem quickly and efficiently.

Natalie McComb:

That's wonderful. And I know that part of the growth that you have seen at Artemis Plastics, is I'm sure bringing on new clients. How do you go about doing that in such a specialized area? Are there different conferences that you attend? What does that outreach look like for your business?

@Gary Mishkin:

It's been interesting. So far, we've all been growing by word of mouth, and existing customers. However, we recently hired our first business development manager, who joined our team in September. So Amanda has been with us now for about four or five months. And we're already starting to see success in her reaching out to the customers, we have some new areas with the new plants, of course, we want to get new medical device assembly and production, and she's found a couple of customers for us already.

Natalie McComb:

That's wonderful. But I mean, how great that you saw that level of growth, just from word of mouth, it must mean that you're keeping your customers very happy, and that they're happy with the product that they're able to recommend it to other businesses that they work with. So I think that's a testament to the products that you produce.

@Gary Mishkin:

Well, thank you very much. Yeah, we'd like to keep the quality tops. And as they always say, it's much easier to get additional business from an existing customer than to go find the new one. So we got to keep our existing customers happy 100% of the time.

Natalie McComb:

And any particular projects or products that you're most excited about that you're working on currently?

@Gary Mishkin:

We have several projects that are still in the pipeline, they still could be a year to two years away. For example, we're working on a catheter for benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is really interesting, I think will really have a significant impact on the quality of people's lives.

Natalie McComb:

And what is that, Gary? I need the layman's terms.

@Gary Mishkin:

So, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia is basically just large prostate issues that are non cancerous. Okay, so we're working with a group called Blue Halo in the Orlando area. And they've developed this really unique catheter, and they came to us, in order to mass produce it, they're in the middle of their clinical trials. And it's really an exciting project. It was one of those, when you look at it, you're like, wow, that's really going to make a difference. Yeah, so that was very exciting. Every week, we're introduced to something new. I mean, we have several new non-medical devices that are also exciting, working with the group to hopefully help clean the environment of what they call forever toxins. And we have others that just help individuals, you know, improve their proficiency at their given sport.

Natalie McComb:

Interesting, and what's next for Artemis Plastics? Do you have plans for expansion? I know, with the addition of your business development manager, you're hoping to to have some new partnerships coming down the pike. But what's coming up next?

@Gary Mishkin:

We have our second facility up and running, we're really looking to expand our device assembly and final packaging, we already have three projects that we're going to be moving into the second facility, and we have a lot of additional room for expansion of packaging, and cleanroom, assembly, etc.

Natalie McComb:

So, really, in bringing on that second facility, you're really kind of preparing for that growth that you're hoping to see with with some of your work and business development as well.

@Gary Mishkin:

Absolutely, we actually did a lot of investment, a lot of it, you know, with investment from Ocala

Natalie McComb:

Impressive in Florida! and CEP in order to have the infrastructure available for us

@Gary Mishkin:

Very impressive. Exactly. And there are a lot of to meet our customer's needs, we have what we call a dry devices, medical devices, and even electronic devices that are cleanroom so that it's a humidity controlled room or we put in industrial dehumidifiers, we can get the humidity in that humidity sensitive. So we're one of probably very few facilities room down to 4%. even in the country that have a room like this setup. The goal for us, of course, is to expand our lateral flow, like the COVID tests, the antigen tests are all lateral flow. So our goal is to continue to make lateral flow tests and we have a number of projects in the works. I give a lot of credit to my colleagues, management team, coworkers at Artemis Plastics, I mean, they've really, in these past almost 10 years already hard to believe, have really stepped up and we've been able to grow the business. We're four times larger than we were when we first acquired the assets. And our system is very robust, and it's just exciting to really bring it to the next level now, especially with the new facility and our capabilities of expanding.

Natalie McComb:

So, at the CEP we talk about how strong the healthcare sector is here in Ocala. But we've been starting to talk about life sciences more and that growing industry. I mean, what are you seeing in Ocala? Because I feel like you're no longer the only game in town. So what are some of the trends that you're seeing here that's kind of a growing industry for us?

@Gary Mishkin:

So, obviously, with the population in Ocala, a lot of it is really healthcare driven. So a lot of hospitals. However, I've met with a number of the CEOs of the hospitals, and they're very interested in really kind of moving into R&D, you know, developing new projects, new protocols, etc. So I'm hoping they'll look at Artemis Plastics as a resource. If they want to develop a new device, or if they have a prototype, and they want us to go ahead and assemble it in our clean rooms, and, you know, help them with the sterilization, we're here for them. So I think we're gonna start to see a lot of that there are a lot of other even smaller clinics that are beginning to develop their own projects. And we're really positioned well to assist them.

Natalie McComb:

How exciting how exciting, I'd love to see that additional growth as especially as it relates to, you know, maybe developing something new that can you know, Ocala can be the first to do it.

@Gary Mishkin:

Love to see it, love to see it.

Natalie McComb:

So we provide our guests with the opportunity to highlight a nonprofit that they're involved with, they're passionate about, who would you like to highlight today, Gary, and why?

@Gary Mishkin:

So, it's a little bit interesting. I'm always looking to support the local schools at every level. So I'm going to use that as my focus group, if you will. So, for example, I've been invited again, to be a judge at the STEAM showcase at Dr. NH Jones elementary school. I did it last year was a lot of fun. And I'm going to do it again this year. We've participated in the MRMA, Marion Regional Manufacturing Association Youth Career Expo with the middle schools, we've toured the RAD Academy of Bellevue High School, we're learning about different projects that the students are developing. Artemis also hires a lot of interns. So we've hired interns from College of Central Florida, that is, and also several of the universities in the state of Florida. So if you're interested in manufacturing, or some of the sciences, definitely keep Artemis in mind. We do have interns really throughout the year, but mostly during the summer. And the nice thing about focusing on the schools is it's not always a financial that they're looking for a lot of it is time and time is even more valuable than some of the financial, you know, just giving them a check. So that's what I enjoy doing. I like working with the students because you can give them some mentoring, guidance, whatever it may be.

Natalie McComb:

And how important you know for them to be able to see someone like you that is a scientist, but also a business owner and an entrepreneur and a CEO. And you wear many hats. But again, that's where you know, science and STEAM, the STEAM showcase and all that, that's where it can take you. And, you know, students may not get the opportunity to meet you in real life. Right? To meet someone who's doing it for a career. So if you can inspire someone else to kind of follow in the footsteps and maybe eventually interning with you. I think that's a that's a net gain, for sure.

@Gary Mishkin:

Well, thank you. We're excited for that. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what a lot of these students end up doing.

Natalie McComb:

And now a word from our sponsor.

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Natalie McComb:

So now it's time for our lightning round questions. So we're gonna get to know you a little bit, Gary. I wish I had like the little sound effects I could add, right? So what trait do you value most from members of your team?

@Gary Mishkin:

Integrity, really, its integrity. We want them to do the right thing at the right time. We need them to be honest, if they make a mistake, that's okay. But own it.

Natalie McComb:

And as we've discussed before, learn from it.

@Gary Mishkin:

Right, learn from it. Exactly. we'll all learn from it. Yeah. So integrity for sure.

Natalie McComb:

And what's your biggest pet peeve?

@Gary Mishkin:

You know, from a work standpoint, biggest pet peeve is when people say that's not my job. It's kind of a pet peeve for me, we all work together we all wear many hats. We all have to step into you know areas that may not be exactly what is defined in our job description. So that kind of ends up being a red flag sometimes for me. Other than that, I hate wet napkins or paper towels in the sink. But I don't think that's quite as relevant to this conversation.

Natalie McComb:

No, but hey, it's still a pet peeve.

@Gary Mishkin:

It sure is.

Natalie McComb:

So I know for me at home it was that I would leave the towel hanging in places like the wet dish towel hanging in places that my husband didn't like. And finally, he jokes that it saved our marriage. But we got a towel rack, just that act of me hanging up the towel and the towel rack. One less thing to argue about. So it's the towel rack can save a marriage, sometimes when it becomes that pet peeve, right?

@Gary Mishkin:

I do my best to pick up my socks.

Natalie McComb:

So what advice would you give yourself at age 15?

@Gary Mishkin:

I would say to myself, yeah, at age 15. I'm like, don't be afraid to ask for help. And I think that comes at any age. And, you know, I think certainly at 15, you know everything. I don't know if you have children I have at home?

Natalie McComb:

Yeah. Well younger than that. But they still know everything.

@Gary Mishkin:

Yeah, I'm gonna paraphrase, I believe, as Mark Twain who basically said, and I'm paraphrasing, when I was 18, I was surprised how little my parents knew. And when I turned 21, I was surprised how much they had learned. So at age 15, you just know a lot of times you're not, you don't think to ask for help or guidance. And it's not a weakness. It's a strength in my opinion. So you know, go back, ask for help, because you save yourself a lot of headache.

Natalie McComb:

describe yourself in one word?

@Gary Mishkin:

For me, the way I would describe myself, I'll use tenacious. I'm always looking for something to do always moving to the next level, always saying, Yeah, we can do that. Let's do it. Let's figure out how to do it. So definitely tenacious.

Natalie McComb:

Well, thank you again. Today. We were here with Gary Michigan, CEO of Artemis Plastics. Thank you so much for being on the show, Gary,

@Gary Mishkin:

Thank you very much. Appreciate your time and glad to do it. Thanks so much.

Natalie McComb:

Thank you for joining us for another episode of the catalyst hosted by the Ocala Metro Chamber and economic partnership. Sponsored by Douglas law firm and recorded live at Wiley productions podcast studios. New episodes, guests and perspectives on leadership premiere twice a month. Follow us on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Have a suggestion for a future guest email us at thecatalyst@ocalacep.com